


i'll always hold your hand

by captaincastello



Series: tiny sheiths [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Drabble, First Love, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 22:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12466884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaincastello/pseuds/captaincastello
Summary: You always find me.You were always easy to find.





	i'll always hold your hand

**Author's Note:**

> 10-23-17 11:23PM  
> still made it to ma boi Keith's birthday aaaww yeaaaaaa

They were at the zoo once, tiny little kids in equally tiny bright yellow overalls and cream-colored hats all holding hands, led along by a Sister at every tenth child interval so as to ensure crowd control and maximum surveillance.

Keith wasn’t the tiniest, nor was he the tallest among the four-year old Littles, so he was set somewhere in the middle of a 10-child link, and try as he might to recall what had exactly happened, to this day he still doesn’t know how he had severed himself from everyone else, gone unnoticed, and found himself all alone. What he can really recall with stark clarity was the feeling of fear and intense loneliness that gripped his small chest when he had realized that he wasn’t holding anyone’s hand anymore.

He swore it had been the longest day in his life. The truth is, he hadn’t really been gone an hour until an older Little found him on a bench by the hippopotamus cages. His name was Takashi Shirogane, but he always introduced himself with his surname first, and Keith, like most of the Littles in the orphanage, had difficulty pronouncing words with more than two syllables, so he’d always been ‘Shiro’.

One of the older Littles, Shiro. Shiro who didn’t mind if you broke his crayons or took a really big bite off his cookie. Shiro who always had a smile on his face even when he lost a tooth. Shiro who still played with the younger Littles even if he was already 10.

How did you find me, Keith had asked. You were always drawing hippos, Shiro had said.

It still felt like the longest day in Keith’s memory, except it wasn’t really a full day, and it wasn’t really that bad. Shiro held their palms together the whole time, his fingers laced around Keith’s as he told him stories of hamsters and kittens in the sky, while they watched the big and small hippos taking turns sunbathing and swimming in their own private pool. When the Sisters and other Littles had found them and pulled them apart to inspect and embrace them individually, Keith was surprised at the slight disappointment he felt when his hand grasped nothing but the cold breeze of October.

In the days that followed, Keith was temporarily entitled to all the bragging rights of a Little who was alone but never cried. The other Littles were more eager to have him join them play hide-and-seek, were more than happy to let him have a share of their candy. Keith would always share the candy to Shiro, and always, Shiro politely declined.

That’s your reward for being brave, Shiro had said.

But, you made me brave, Keith had replied.

You’ve always been brave already, Shiro said, and his hand felt warmer than any blanket as it rested on the top of Keith’s head.

Then came the New Year, and a couple of young ladies always came to visit Shiro, until such time that he also went to visit their home. Then came the day when the Sisters said that Shiro was going to start living with them in his New Home, that Shiro won’t always visit the Littles and play with them every day.

A blessing, the Sisters said, because Moms and Dads usually preferred to take younger Littles to their homes. Keith absolutely didn’t understand why it was a ’blessing’, especially when all he felt watching Shiro speed away in a taxi, was an immense and profound sadness that he didn’t have the vocabulary yet to attach a name with.

Shiro’s bed was empty, Keith’s hand felt empty. Eventually, the other beds in the sanctuary were empty, only to be used later by new Littles, or older Littles who suddenly were left alone and had no other place to stay. Even Shiro’s bed was occupied again, a new Little was sitting in his usual seat in the den, a new Little was playing by the bushes where he had once discovered a butterfly emerging out of its cocoon. New Littles were everywhere sharing the spaces he once had been, and Keith’s hand remained empty.

Eventually Keith was also taken to a foster home, where his new parents got him a dog instead of a hippo but it was fine because Keith knew that hippos weren’t meant to live in four-walled houses and a roof anyway. New Dad was a zookeeper, which was really cool, and New Mom was a sports instructor, which made her really badass. Keith had a new room, a new bed, a new set of crayons to draw his hippos with, a new pet to play with. With New Dad and New Mom and the snow white Samoyed he named Marshmallow, Keith’s hands didn’t have to stay empty for too long.

Keith’s hands weren’t empty for eighteen more years after that. Even until now, they’re not.

Large hands suddenly invade the insides of his maroon sweatshirt pockets where his own are warming themselves in, a broad chest and a steady heartbeat resting fully on his back as Shiro gently greets him from behind. Keith’s not so tiny anymore but he’s still a full head shorter than Shiro, which is perfect because it’s just the right distance for Shiro’s lips to meet the top of his head.

You always find me, Keith says as he laces their fingers together in his pockets.

You were always easy to find, Shiro replies as he gestures to the hippos comfortably lounging near the pool in their wide cage.

A year ago, Shiro had visited the zoo on a school field trip with his elementary students. Keith had just begun his zookeeper training. A child had gotten lost, Shiro went to find her and found Keith as well, holding her hand as they made their way to the Head Office. Six months and a dozen coffee breaks and exclusive zoo tours later, they started dating. Keith's parents thought it weird that it took them this long.

Happy birthday, Shiro tells Keith with a kiss to his cheek when they finally turn to face each other, and Keith finally notices the large stuffed hippo tied with a big ribbon over Shiro’s shoulders. He laughs. You walked around with that?

All so I could get it to you.

You do know we have the real thing here right?

But you can keep this one in your room, and it can help keep you warm in this cold season.

I thought I had _you_ for that.

Oh, I never said I’d stop doing that.

Shiro’s hands are warm on his already burning cheeks, his light chuckle finding a home in Keith’s parted lips as they dive into each other with fervent zeal, the sunset casting dancing shadows on their faces as they move in slow motion, savoring the other’s warmth and flavor as if they’d always been lost and had just been found, as if they’d never been to each other for such a long time until now.

They eventually part, but only their lips, as their arms and gazes are still locked onto each other.

They eventually part, but only so that their hands can swing idly between them as they walk.

They eventually part, but only because they know they’re never really apart, that they’d always find each other again like they always do.


End file.
